A group of senators from the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States sent a letter to the CEO of Meta Platforms (META.O.), Mark Zuckerberg, seeking documentation regarding the company’s study into the risks posed to minors by its social media platforms.
The documents leaked in 2021 by a whistleblower showed that the business Meta was aware that Instagram, which started as a photo-sharing app, was addictive and exacerbated body image issues for some teenage females.
“Members of Congress have repeatedly asked Meta for information on its awareness of threats to young people on its platforms and the measures that it has taken, only to be stonewalled and provided non-responsive or misleading information,” the senators stated in a written communication.
According to the senators, the letter comes after a hearing that took place the previous week with a new whistleblower and after the Massachusetts Attorney General filed a complaint that was just unsealed.
According to the senators, newly unsealed documents support the testimony of a former executive who testified before a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee. Arturo Béjar said that Meta officials had firsthand knowledge of the harm associated with its products and concealed this information from Congress and the general public.
A request for comment was sent to Meta, but they did not react immediately. Dozens of states in the United States have joined together to file a lawsuit against Meta and its Instagram business, claiming the companies are contributing to a problem in the mental health of young people by designing their social media platforms to be addictive.
